The average smartphone contains roughly 25,000 germs per square inch, but now, BlackBerry may be doing something about all that grossness.
The once-dominant company, which now only accounts for less than 1% of the smartphone market share, is looking into designing a bacteria-free smartphone, according to company CEO John Chen.
Chen made the comment Wednesday at a hospital north of Toronto, where he announced that BlackBerry was partnering with ThoughtWire and Cisco Systems Inc. to provide hospital workers with a new portable messaging and alert system.
A bacteria-free smartphone would be designed for hospital personnel, rather than regular consumers, Bloomberg reported.
According to a study published by the Journal of Applied Microbiology, 20% to 30% of bacteria are transferred between a cellphone and a finger. Healthcare professionals are supposed to wipe their cellphones down with alcohol to prevent germs from spreading, but many don't, another study said.
A bacteria-free smartphone would be "one less thing to wipe down" Chen reportedly said at Wednesday's event.
That said, BlackBerry is only considering the possibility of such a device, and isn't developing one at the moment. It is reportedly planning to release an Android smartphone later this year, following poor attachment rates for its BlackBerry 10-powered devices.